Coca-Cola India to get first woman marketing head

NEW DELHI: Coca-Cola India may soon have a woman heading its marketing function for the first time. Anupama Ahluwalia, senior vice-president for marketing at Aditya Birla group's telecom services provider Idea Cellular would be the beverage maker's new vice-president for marketing, an official close to the development said.

Ahluwalia will be the only woman, as of now, to be part of Coca-Cola's leadership council, which has 12-14 officials who report directly to the company's president and CEO Atul Singh.

Sangeeta Pendurkar, who was the only woman member of Coca-Cola's leadership council, had quit as VP-strategy and commercial beverages-last September, to head cereal maker Kellogg India.

Coca-Cola's global CEO Muhtar Kent had told ET earlier this month that the firm was "focused on nurturing women leadership and promoting diversity" in India but that it would be a gradual progress. "We have long-term goals that we have set for ourselves with regard to building a diverse leadership team and we are moving toward that goal," he had said in an email interview.

Globally, just like many consumer packaged firms like Unilever and Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola is increasing its diversity ratio. The world's largest beverages maker has said that itwants to empower 5 million women entrepreneurs by 2020. In India, rival PepsiCo has 25% representation of women in its leadership team.

Ahluwalia will be filling the post left vacant by Ricardo Fort, who quit Coca-Cola earlier this year as VP marketing after tenure of less than two years. At that time, it was speculated that Fort had exited the company following differences of opinion with the Coca-Cola managemen, but that was denied by the firm.

An email sent to Ahluwalia, who has been with Idea Cellular since mid-2007, remained unanswered. She is expected to join the beverage maker next month. A Coca-Cola spokesman would not confirm or deny the development. "We do not comment on speculation around senior level resource appointments till the time such a resource is on board," he said.

Ahluwalia's role will include increase per capita consumption of Coca-Cola's aerated drinks like Thums Up, Sprite, Limca and brand Coke, besides scale up presence and developing strategies of niche brands like Nestea ice tea and energy drink Burn.

India's per capita consumption of packaged beverages at just 11 bottles a year is among the lowest in the world.

Before Idea Cellular, where she has been part of the team that has executed the well-recognised 'what an idea Sirjee' campaigns featuring Abhishek Bachchan, Ahluwalia was with toothpaste maker Colgate Palmolive. She has close to two decades of experience in sales and marketing functions.

Ahluwalia cut her marketing teeth in the processed foods division of Voltas in 1991. Three years later, she moved to Colgate Palmolive where she spent close to 13 years in India and Thailand.

She holds a master's degree in management studies from Mumbai University with a specialisation in marketing.